British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will leave 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions in London’s Parliament on Wednesday, November 3, 2021. (AP Photo / Kirsty Wigglesworth)
London (AP) — UK Deputy Chief Medical Officer said Wednesday that too many believe that the pandemic is over, and that the UK’s coronavirus infection rate is very high and deaths are rising. He warned that it meant “a difficult month for winter to come”.
Jonathan Vantam also said he was worried that the increase in deaths might indicate that the infectious disease is “now beginning to penetrate the elderly.”
“The infection rate of the coronavirus is still very high at this point. They are higher than most of Europe,” Vantam told the BBC. “We’re pretty hot, and of course, scientists are worried that we’re running so hot early in the fall season.”
“I personally feel that winter has some difficult months and it’s not over,” he added.
The UK Government reported 41,299 new COVID-19 cases and 217 deaths on Wednesday. The country recorded the highest daily death toll since Tuesday February – 293 –.
Although new cases have fallen from about 46,000 per day in October, infection rates in the UK are still much higher than in most of Europe.
According to Vantam, the decline in case numbers primarily reflects the recent surge in teenagers. He warned that while hospitalizations had peaked and the total number of patients in hospitals had declined slightly, the big picture remained worrisome.
“This may be a pause before things go up, it may be the first sign that things are starting to stabilize but are at a high rate,” he said. “But my concern is an increase in deaths, which indicates that the infection is beginning to penetrate those older age groups.”
The UK has made a good start in deploying vaccination programs and most adults are fully vaccinated. Booster shots are offered to millions of people, including everyone over the age of 50. However, the government is cautious about vaccination of teens and young people and only allows healthy children aged 12 to 15 years to jab in September of this year.
Jeremy Brown, a member of the government’s Advisory Committee on Immunization, said it was “premature” to follow the US initiative to vaccinate children under the age of 11.
In July, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s conservative government lifted almost all coronavirus restrictions, including mandatory face coverings and social distance requirements. Nightclubs and crowded venues were allowed to open completely, and work from home advice was abandoned.
Authorities have resisted calls to impose restrictions such as forced masking and instead rely heavily on vaccines to control infections.
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British officials have warned that the next few months will be tough, given the high COVID rates. WGN Radio 720
Source link British officials have warned that the next few months will be tough, given the high COVID rates. WGN Radio 720
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